Author
Topic: Do you still pay for cable/satellite TV or home phone? (Read 1702 times)

I'm 36 and have cable and internet from the same provider. I ditched the landline several years ago and just use my cell. The only people who ever called the landline were telemarketers anyways. The only downside is an additional fee for my security system. However, the fee was less than what I paid for the landline.

Why not ditch the security system and go with a self monitoring system over the internet? A system like that could send updates to your cell phone. You could even add cameras that can be accessed from the web.

Why not ditch the security system and go with a self monitoring system over the internet? A system like that could send updates to your cell phone. You could even add cameras that can be accessed from the web.

It is much easier for the company to call me to tell me an alarm has gone off and should they send the police then getting a text at 2AM where I have to get up and get to a computer to see if someone is breaking in. Plus I have a panic button that automatically summons the police if someone is breaking in while I'm at home and the alarm isn't armed.

I've still got cable, but I haven't had a land line in several years. Although, the AT&T reception is so terrible in my area that I'm probably going to go back to having one pretty soon.

Why not get a mobile wireless hotspot? It's akin to having your own personal cell tower in your home.

As for cable & phone services? Right now I have a serious lack of choices. And that's because of where I live. There is one cable carrier in my part of town, or a service like Direct TV or Dish Network. Pricewise, for the services I have with the cable company it does not make sense to make any kind of change. And considering that both of those satellite services are subject to weather outages, why bother?

Slowly, Verizon is making inroads in my area. And when they get to my development I'm going to switch over to them from my current cable carrier. Their service has gotten significantly better reviews than my current provider, and they have a much more modern network with significantly better bandwidth capabilities.

For the time being I am keeping the landline phone. My cable provider bundles the services so that you can get cable tv, broadband and telephone service for a reasonable price. The phone service cost is negligible. But by having the phone service on the same line as the cable it does not present itself as any kind of reliable emergency contact method line a conventional phone line would. Old phone lines run on their own independent power systems and will operate in the event of most power failures. Phone via cable service won't work when the power is out, and cell phone battery life is finite.

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When Verizon installs FIOS, they install a battery back up in the house if the power dies. However the problem with FIOS is when they install it, they cut your POTS copper line. No going back to regular land lines.

Your exactly right. They think it is their copper and they can do what ever they want with it which is untrue. Infact, they do run a new line into the house. They just cut the coppper to keep you locked into their fiber.

I've still got cable, but I haven't had a land line in several years. Although, the AT&T reception is so terrible in my area that I'm probably going to go back to having one pretty soon.

Why not get a mobile wireless hotspot? It's akin to having your own personal cell tower in your home.

I did. I paid $150 + Tax for the M-Cell, and it only works about a third of the time. My phone constantly fails to connect to it... it needs constant restarting, and it is supposed to have a 50 foot radius but barely works 20 feet from the device.

I think I'd have to oversee that instillation and let them know if they cut the copper they'll be paying for a bit more than the gas out to the house. Verizon is/was a turd to me... My gf got Verizon a while back, and it was such dismal service she dropped them on my recommendation of going to Comcast, and Comcast is fantastic. My only gripe with them, at her house, has been the DVR is acting up like crazy and locking up constantly. At my place the DVR's perfect.

Very annoying. I think the DVR is maybe a tad old and she needs a newer one.

BTW ROb, I've heard the same BS about "mobile hotspots". Not worth the price at all. I'll stick with my landline through Comcast... It's reliable. My phone works, generally, when I'm out. I would like to ditch the BB Storm though, but upgrading just seems like a waste right now.

We have a mobile hotspot installed in one of our libraries as a test because it's cheaper than the frame relay we had and they don't have DSL or cable in the area. We had some problems with it but a few weeks ago we pulled it back in, upgraded the firmware and reprogrammed it, along with the computer in the library that connects to it, and redeployed.

I don't know if that ironed out the problems or not, I haven't heard back from them yet.

E...

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